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Blood Potency
'Blood Potency' Although the Kindred each call upon the Blood in different ways, not all wield the same levels of power. Blood Potency determines the degree of power the Blood bestows upon a vampire. Having more dots of Blood Potency allows characters to learn more advanced Disciplines and to develop their traits to superhuman levels. Further, vampires with more dots in this advantage can hold more Vitae within their bodies, as it is more potent and therefore more concentrated. In short, the higher a character’s Blood Potency, the greater her potential. All newly Embraced vampires start at Blood Potency 1, regardless of their sire’s potency, with nowhere to go but up. Blood Potency can be purchased during character creation as a Merit (at three Merit-equivalent points per dot), but after play begins, it can be increased only by experience, diablerie or age. The purchase of additional Blood Potency at character creation needs to be rationalized before play begins. Perhaps the character engaged in diablerie or had already spent many years as a vampire before the start of the chronicle. Players who want their characters to start with more dots of Blood Potency must thoroughly explain what in their character’s history justifies the additional dots and have it approved by the Storyteller before play begins. As Blood Potency increases, feeding requirements become more stringent. Only blood of potency a certain degree lower than a character’s can provide sustenance'' (see the accompanying chart). In fact, some elders’ blood is so potent that they can’t feed on mortals at all, requiring the Vitae of other vampires to nourish them. Only those with the fewest dots of Blood Potency can feed from animals. Eventually, a vampire’s blood becomes so potent that he is unable to find regular prey and falls into torpor, the duration of which is based on his current Blood Potency and Humanity ''(see p. 175). While in torpor, a thinning of the blood occurs. Torpor also causes fever dreams and a general distortion of the mind. A vampire’s Blood Potency increases by one every 50 years. In torpor, however, it decreases by one every 25 years. As Blood Potency is rated on a 1-to-10 scale, a vampire will more than likely fall into torpor in about 500 years — as blood requirements grow ever more refined and hard to fulfill — sooner for those who engage in diablerie. Characters who diablerize several vampires in a short span of years can remain active through seven to nine diableries before the potency of their blood causes them to succumb to torpor. Such Kindred tend to have short but violent bouts of activity between long periods of torpid idleness. When Blood Potency decreases (through torpor, for example), any traits that exceed the character’s new capacity disappear. If Blood Potency increases again during the chronicle so that a character could once again gain access to them, the player must spend experience points a second time to “re-learn” what was lost. '''Example: '''Stephanie of Clan Daeva has achieved a Blood Potency of 8 after repeated success at diablerie and has subsequently raised her Presence to 7. Unable to find any vampires of sufficient Blood Potency to feed upon, she slips into torpor for a period of 80 years. In this time, Stephanie’s Blood Potency drops three dots (one for every 25 years) to 5. When she wakes, her Presence is reduced to 5, the trait maximum for a Blood Potency of 5. Over time, especially if Stephanie continues her practice of diablerie, she will have the opportunity to increase her Presence again. Her player, however, needs to spend the experience points to raise these dots as though Stephanie had never possessed them. Rumors persist of truly ancient vampires who have found a way to stave off torpor, seemingly defying the effects of Blood Potency. Some swear that such a thing is possible through intensive study of blood magic with such faith akin to the belief in Golconda, creating a sort of religious fervor in those seeking to attain transcendence. <<<< BACK